Panacea
by Harmoniche
Summary: Dropped because it's trash. Minako is now in a suspended after-life and non after-life like state and stuck with her love Ryoji. What will happen as she struggles to forget Akihiko and figure out the mysteries of this strange in-between world
1. Healing of All Wounds Starts One Stitch

_I couldn't fit it all in the summary box, but there is minor AkixFeMC, though it's not that much in comparison to the amount of RyojixFeMC._

_Well. I figured I'd make things interesting. This story, will be a sequel of sorts to the one shot with Akihiko and Minako, called: Trusting Destruction. I know this may be a bit odd-but as much as I'm a fan of the Persona series, I have actually not played it yet. Though, in time, I certainly will. I don't have a PSP, nor a PS2. Not to mention that my PS3 isn't compatible with PS2 games as far as I know. This one will be featuring Ryoji and Minako, actually. I'll try not to get anything incorrect, factually. Thank you guys for reading my stories. It makes me incredibly happy. And stupid as it is... I just realized that I forgot to indent every paragraph in Trusting Destruction... WHATEVER. This is a bit of a AU FF, but meh. This one... is a little fluffy, I will admit. __Well. Not too much fluff, anyway. __Something I'll try to stay out of later on. This one will have a touch of seriousness every once in a while, but I would like to keep it light-hearted for the most part, though Ryoji is a bit out of character. He's still changed over the years due to her previous influences that will be mentioned later on, as to get a better understanding of who he is now. I am thinking of writing a series of serious vignettes featuring these two, though. But I promise to try add a chapter every week/next week. I know. I'm horrible at updating. On with the story. 3 Enjoy. R & R please. 3 _

**The Healing of All Wounds Starts One Stitch at a Time**

Cold... It was so unbelievably _cold_. Shaking, she stared up, expecting to see sky. Thankfully she did. As she became more aware of her surroundings the chill receded; a filling warmth taking its place, wrapping her in a subtle embrace. She gave a shudder before pulling herself to her feet and brushing the grass off the back of her skirt. What was this place? There was wind, grass... and a sky. It was an environment that she felt strangely detached and connected to all at once. _Confused_. She was incredibly confused. She couldn't remember anything but a blinding white that had sent her reeling into some sort of sleep. Each attempt to remember resulted in a struggling headache. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to try anymore.

Curiosity and ignorance took over as she gave a soft whisper, "What happened to the white?" Graceful fingers grasping at nothingness. It was scary. She heard a low chuckle and spun around. The girl saw a man. It wasn't a boy. It was a man-around twenty and... very, very handsome. "Hello, Minako." She suddenly had the urge to look in a mirror. Did she look older? Did she look trashy? Did she look disheveled? Who _was _she? Her brows furrowed and she walked up to the man, ignoring all embarrassment, and pressed herself to his chest. It was of utmost importance that she try this out. She ignored the sharp gasp he let out and measured from the top of his head to the top of hers as accurately as she could. Minako frowned. "How come I'm still so damn short...?" Her attention finally came to him as he let out a rich laugh. It sounded familiar. Her eyes settled on his face as she took him in for the first time.

Stormy blue-grey eyes and raven hair. Her eyes narrowed at the yellow scarf he was wearing. "Who are you?" The boy blinked and gave a smile in response. Minako wasn't stupid. Right before that smile was a look of complete and utter torture. "I should know you-probably. I'm sorry. I know I should-but that's all I know, you see. I'm... really sorry, Ryoji." Both their eyes widened, one in mock surprise and the other at her own silliness. "Oh. I guess I do know you." She grinned and let out a laugh. He smiled and stroked her cheek. It was a familiar tenderness that made her head throb. She denied the hoarse voices in the back of her head, screaming to remember.

She gazed up at the boy and sucked in air, impressed. "When did you get so tall?" She clutched his chest with one hand and went on her tip-toes to try and make herself eye level with the top of his head. Ryoji looked away dryly. He had forgotten how curious she was. How ridiculously-and sometimes stupidly-honest she was. He pressed his curled hand to his mouth as he let out a cough. "It's been a few years. Time's passed, Minako. This is the after life."

_After life?_ If one could be doomed in the after life, she knew pretty much which direction she was going in. "Well. Not really the after life. So much as... It's the 'In-between', I guess. I'm sort of here to monitor you-and keep you company. It gets lonely here." His eyes lowered, veiled by a dark layer of bitterness. The same. Their eyes were the same. Both angry and hurt and... filled with a complicated love that could never be explained. Ryoji pulled on a smile and grabbed her hand, leading her to whatever place he wished to visit. He turned as he walked, giving her a knowing grin before he said, "This place is truly an anomaly. We go on, day after day after day-seasons change! It's so strange. There's a world here-I don't know if it's real or not, but there are _people_. It's like... an alternate universe, I guess. There are even guys like Akihi-" he gave an abrupt stop to his cheery speech. Throbbing. The blood pulsed in her head and she could hear her heart speed up. "Akihiko?"

Minako saw how he evaded eye contact when she spoke the word-the _name_. She narrowed her eyes and placed both hands on his cheeks dragging him to eye level with her. "What are you talking about?" A flash of hesitance, mixed with remorse and jealousy. "Your memories... seem to be coming back in bits and pieces, Minako. Your remembrance of me wasn't just chance, really. It's more like when you see someone who had reminded you of someone... in your, erm, _previous life, _you remember things about them. It's not always everything. You may just remember who I am to you, not what I am or what I did. You loved Akihiko-dated him, actually." he tried to restrain the selfish desires he had. To tell her what she said about him. That _he_ was first. Not him.

_ Akihiko... I love you. So much._ Ryoji saw his expression lighten, then darken at the impending message. Y_ou may not understand it...but when I'm with Ryoji it's like-it's like I can _breathe_. Like I've found the other half of myself. That gaping emptiness that was there after I felt Pharos leave... It was gone. Alive. The world had colour again. It was so vibrant, Akihiko-and I'm only human. I can't help but be blinded by shiny lights and pretty colours. If he was never sealed inside of me and I met you. You would be first, forever. I know this will hurt you beyond belief-but Ryoji's everything. He's first in my heart. _Ryoji pitied the boy as he saw him crack a wryly smile and say, "I know."

_Temptation._ The temptation was so great. What would happen if he told? Would it be better? He knew Minako hated lies with a passion. He glanced at her. Her eyes were wide and she cocked her head. _Just like a child,_ he thought. She frowned throwing him a dry look. "You have ten seconds to tell me everything you know. If you don't, I'll rip your ba-" Ryoji winced, "Okay, okay." This is another part of her he wished he had been more conscious of. He sighed, ruffling his hair, "I remember... being jealous of you two. I found it hard to believe how someone could love another person that much. He was everything to you-and that angered me. It's shameful... how happy I was when you told him on the rooftop that I was now first. That_ I_ was everything. Not _him_. And he accepted it. He knew, Minako, he _knew. _And he forgave you." He saw Minako take in the stream of information, her expression shifting from emotion to emotion. First, astonishment, second, fear and third self-loathing. Strangely enough, the emotion he expected to be on her face last was something he knew much of. Regret.

She closed her eyes, slowly, a smile growing on her face. "You were scared, weren't you, Ryoji?" Her eyes opened as she stroked his cheek. Red eyes-open and strong, filled with a blinding honesty. He fell so hard for these eyes-so alive, so beautiful... so _pure_. A pained expression flickered across his face as he cupped her hand to his face and whispered, "Yes... I was scared." Her smile was surprisingly gentle at his admittance. "Scared that I would regret telling him. I only regret hurting him, but it needed to be done. However... I can't regret what I said because it was true. Ryoji. I don't know what'll happen to me. I don't know how long I'll stay here. But I know it'll be so much easier to bear with you here." She knew... that she would need to forget about Akihiko. She could never come back to him and he could never come back to her. The bond between them had been severed by the harsh realities of life. She didn't want to see it, when Akihiko found someone else-but she didn't want him to see her find someone else, either.

Selfish, _selfish_ love. She didn't want Akihiko to move on, but then she did. Minako found that complicated feelings chasing each other could never be sorted out.

Guilt stabbed at her as she looked at Ryoji. He was lost in his own world, hand still clinging to hers. How could she let him go? The logical part of her knew that even if she hadn't... hadn't _died,_ she still would of had to choose, regardless of Ryoji existing or not. There were so many things to take care of. She just wanted to clean up the mess she made. She should of just... No. There was no point in dwelling on it. She had made a decision and she was going to damn-well accept the consequences of those decisions.

If she could somehow contact Akihiko and everyone and speak to them privately about matters. Get everything settled. The thought of Akihiko and Mitsuru getting together... Ugh. She felt like her heart was being squeezed. Mitsuru. Huh. Who _was_ that? It sounded like someone she knew well. It's as if she had a feeling of who she was and what she was to her, but no details to sew together. Minako shook off such feelings before the desperate attempts to put together the pieces of her shattered memory began.

She coughed and turned away, walking in a random direction. Ryoji blinked and stood there in shock for a moment before walking after her. "Minako-chan... Where are you going? You're going to live with me. Our house is that way." he murmured, jerking a thumb back towards a luxurious house.

It took a few moments to sink in. Minako's face lit up a bright red, "Y-you mean to say that we'll be l-living together?" she exclaimed. Ryoji knocked his knuckles against his head, trying to retrieve his hearing, closing one eye in a wince. "That's right." he said, face innocent.

She looked down for a few moments, face beet red before speed-walking to the mansion. "Okay... But just so you know, I'll be sleeping in another room." Ryoji's eyelids lowered in dissatisfaction.

A little fib wouldn't hurt, now would it? "I wouldn't suggest that, Minako-chan. There are some things that can be... quite dangerous at night. The mansion is secure-but I'm afraid that I'm the only one who can really protect you." Minako froze in place. "You mean to say... I could get hurt?" Ryoji nodded, face sincere. It wasn't a complete lie. There were many dangerous things that lurked about. She seemed torn between accepting his offer and being stubborn. _Yes... So close!_ "No. I can do fine on my own." she muttered as she began to walk again, the frown on her lips becoming more and more prominent as she moved. All hopes of intimate interaction with Minako were squashed at this. Sometimes she could be so honest... Other times she was shy to the point of it being painful.

Ryoji sighed and followed her to the mansion. This was the most depressing thing since-well, since she went into a sort of coma in the first place. He avoided thinking of that day. It was the only comfort he had as he waited for what seemed to be an endless five years for her awakening. How does someone go into a coma after death, anyway? I guess it makes sense since the sealing... but something doesn't add up. His thoughts were put to an abrupt stop as she stepped inside, running into a butler, clumsily ushering apologies all the way upstairs. Ryoji allowed himself to chuckle and give apologetic glances to the staff as he followed her up the marble stairs to the hallway. She spun around, hands clasped behind her back. Minako grinned as she halted herself, "Nice place you got here." Ryoji's heart stopped. He was way over his head for this girl. Ever since he became almost human he'd been. Their strictly platonic relationship had evolved into something much more. He wanted to hold her. Grasp her with these hands of hers. Make sure this was happening. But how much can happen in the after life? They had forever to be together. That was what mattered. His lips flashed a charming grin as he kissed her cheek whispering, "Only for you, my dearest," in passing. Her face lit up again and she spun around sharply.

"So... Which is your room?" she asked, inspecting the doors she passed. He lifted up his hand in a fluid gesture, sobering-and grumbling-now that her attention was off of him.

"Why do you ask? Do you plan on sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night?" Minako rolled her eyes. "Stu-pid. I'm asking in case there's some sort of emergency and I have to pull you out of there by the foot."

He 'ahhed' in understanding, allowing himself to give a knowing smile as he watched her inspect the rooms to her approval. "Is everything alright, Princess?" No longer embarrassed, her lips curled up in excitement. "I'm a relatively simple person-and even if we were in a little cottage. It'd be okay. I know I have you. That's more than enough for me." Now, _this_, made Ryoji blush. He covered his mouth with his hand trying to hide his giddiness and pink face.

This is exactly what he meant. While she didn't have nearly as much of a problem giving affection, she got extremely embarrassed receiving it. This girl was unfathomable. Every little situation had a different reaction. It didn't matter how well you knew her. It could change in an instant. It was one of the things that Ryoji loved most about her. She looked at him quizzically and he waved her off, regaining his composure. He sighed, "I'll introduce you to a few people later in the week and give you a tour tomorrow, okay?"

There was an evident look of surprise on her face at the mentioning of time, "You mean... Time passes here? Does that mean I'll become old granny in fifty years? Oh my god! What will I do? How will I live?" Ryoji swallowed the promises he was about to make about loving her regardless and simply explained that time wouldn't have an effect on them because of her becoming Great Seal. "Everyone else will age-sure-but they'll age backwards. Then they'll go back to Earth, I guess. It's like in that book, 'Elsewhere'. Pretty basic principals. Don't worry about it," he assured her, "It would be exactly as before. That's the simplest way to explain it. Today is September twentieth, if you're interested in the date. It's getting a little chilly, so I got you some cardigans." She arched an eyebrow.

Minako threw him a suspicious glance. "And how did you know my size?"

"I know everything about you." he stated simply.

"That's creepy."

He laughed at the insult, "Just a little." He pinched his forefinger and thumb together while squinting and she giggled. He felt a swell of pride as he heard her laughter. If happiness were a currency, fifty yen from her would be the equivalent of two million to him. He tried to concentrate a little harder. _I needed to be reliable. Minako just got here. She's already confused, especially with all this being dumped on her._

Ryoji suddenly snapped his fingers as he remembered something, "I hope you don't mind. But I thought you would like this room best so I moved all your clothing into the dresser there." he said, "But if you want I can move it into another room if you don't like it." From there he led her into a room to the right of her. When she walked in she was surprised. It felt like she was discovering another part of herself. Was this really how he saw her? The room was almost austere in it's theme, the furniture was bulky and richly coloured, the feminine curls taking away from the overwhelming masculinity. She looked around her. Right near the door was a simple vanity of a mahogany colour with a small lounge-like area in the corner of the opposite wall beside the queen-sized bed. Opposite to the bed was a walk-in closet, already filled with clothing. She really liked this room. It surprised her how much it suited her. The white, gold, red and black colour scheme managed to work well with one another, too. Minako knew she shouldn't be picking favorites-but she decided that the favorite part of this room was the glass wall beside the lounge area. It was gorgeous-and very much like her.

Ryoji scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Erm. If you don't like i-" She cut him off, happily. "It's perfect. Thank you, Ryoji." He suddenly got very anxious at the mention of his name and began rambling about the features of the room. "Well, uh, Minako, you can cover up the window with this button-erm-no wrong... Oops!" She squeaked as she heard loud siren go off after he pressed a button. He looked at her sheepishly and pressed it again as she laughed. Sweet silence. He gave a nervous chuckle, evading eye contact. "Haha... emergency-emergency button." He moved over the the bedside table where there was a small button inside the lamp. Ryoji suddenly looked very serious as he said, "This one only calls me. I'll come running if you push this one-or if you just want some company." She gave him a dry look, "So you weren't kidding when you said something about dangerous things?" Though Ryoji did over-do it a bit... (He matured a lot over the years-but Minako always did bring him off his game, whether it be love or intelligence.) It certainly wasn't a lie. The only thing that was a lie was probably the likelihood of such incidents ever occurring. But one could never be too careful.

After all that Ryoji had done, he never wanted to see her hurt again. The selfish love and almost animalistic posessiveness that took over when he was around her was tamed... moderately. He was trying as hard as he could-but he was still afraid. Afraid that he might snap and say something out of spite. He was lucky that Minako understood him enough to let most of it go. Despite this, though, there was probably going to come a time when he said far too much and she might never forgive him for it. They were only human after all-the phrase struck a cord in him. _Human?_ He chuckled. At least now he was, even if they were sort of dead and sort of not. Minako's soul was being used as the Great Seal whereas he... Well, since part of him and took a human manifestation, apparently he ended up here, too. It was all very ambiguous in and out of itself.

Ryoji's heart sped up and he quickly made for an exit mumbling a soft good night. "Good night, Ryoji." she giggled as he walked out the door. Even as Ryoji exited the room he felt a tugging at the back of his mind. Maybe he had forgotten something...? Nah. He couldn't have.

~ o ~

"Hm... Towel? Check. Underwear and shirt? Check. Door locked? Check. Thank god." she muttered under her breath. Piece by piece she began to strip off her clothing in preparation for a hot bath. She gave a low sigh in pleasure when she sunk into the warm tub. She figured, Hey, I'm in the bath. Might as well reflect on what's been going on right? Wrong.

"Hey, Minako, I forgot to mention-I'll be going to take a bath." Ryouji yelled from the other room across the hall. Minako only yelled a 'sure' and waved her hand as she sunk further into the tub. After halfway through the day, Minako had begun to expect a few things in her sight.

Number 3: White light.

Number 2: Some gigantic door to her doom.

and finally, Number 1: Her doom.

The three things that had not occurred that she should of expected were:

3. A pretty hillside mansion.

2. Ryoji.

1. And a half naked man in front of her while she took a bath. _Wait. **What?**_

The two stared at one another in silence. Ryoji's usually gelled back hair was now let down in a mass and his blue eyes were wide in surprise. Minako's mouth gaped open in a twisted sense of shock. Should she be happy? Did he do this on purpose? Should she hit him? A rush of thoughts came to her at once, but one stood out: "Get the hell out of here, Ryoji! If you wanted to take a bath of me you should of aske-no! Wait! I didn't mean that!" she gave a moan of frustration and opened her mouth to explain, but Ryoji was already out. In her embarrassment she hadn't noticed that half way through her bout of anger he had ran out and slammed the door. One thing was for sure. Minako wasn't going to take a tub bath for a long time. _Showers_ are _power_. She continued chanting this over and over, until she gave up, unable to forget the incident that had occurred moments ago.

~ o ~

Ryoji had forgotten how to breathe. It was a constant. If he had liked math in school, this equation may have made some sense to him. Minako + Tub + Water + My Walking in = ? Minako was the constant in this equation. If Minako was the constant... then what would happen if she was always angry? How long would this anger be attracted to the constant? He groaned at his stupidity. He _knew _he was forgetting something! He just insisted that he hadn't. If he were to feel guilty over a set up by his subconscious, that would just be plain silly-but it didn't stop him from feeling it. _Oh_, yes. He felt very... very... silly. How could he possibly make it up to her? Maybe he couldn't. She might never forgive him. It was even sillier how he was being such a drama-queen over a simple misunderstanding.

The raven-haired boy tried to think of various ways to make it up to her, becoming so desperate that he started writing out ideas and sketching them out on paper. He was completely concentrated on somehow making everything up to the girl (aside from the absent-minded doodles about the brunette). Ryoji scowled at his helplessness. Could he do nothing right? He was always hurting her, always tugging at her mind-was it ever enough? He punched the mirror above his desk in frustration, not noticing the red that oozed out of his skin till he stepped back onto the broken glass. He stood, stone-faced, as he faced himself in what was left of the broken mirror. _My seven years of bad luck probably started before I even broke this mirror,_ he thought bitterly.

_Thinking, thinking, thinking,_ was all he could do. Though, if Ryoji were being logical about his so called 'thinking', at the moment, he would of noticed one particular phrase she let out in rage: If you wanted to take a bath of me you should of asked!

But he wasn't-because he was in love.

"Ryoji? Are you okay? Jesus! Look at all this blood...! What the hell happened to your hand? Does it hurt when I touch here?" Faint thoughts speeding by at five centimeters per second. _Thoughts? No..._ These were words being spoken to him. He winced as he crinkled his brows, fingertips rubbing at his temples. He could hear the voice of concern who began to clean his wounds, careful not to prod at them. _That's just like her,_ he thought slowly. _So considerate, so kind... She shouldn't give so much of herself to me._ He winced at the words and Minako's head snapped up in concern, "Sorry!" she whined, "I'm trying to be careful-I really am. I guess I'm just not the the type of girl to be bandaging wounds..." she mumbled, bowing her head. Ryoji's eyes darkened, taking on a mood much darker than before. That deep sense of possessiveness over the girl was coming back. He tried to stop it. Past memories. Feelings. _Mistakes_. All of which were slamming into his brain at a thousand miles an hour. He clutched at his hair, desperately, tearing the cuts on his hands deeper, letting the blood run out gleefully. The more he tried to forgive himself-the more he tried to _learn from her_, the more he destroyed himself. The hope that she might... that she might teach him, herself, was quickly ebbing away, becoming less than abstract. Then colour came. Light, and vitality all came rushing in a beautiful spectrum as Minako clung to him. He tried to make out words, but he couldn't understand himself, let alone her. He could only listen to the coos of forgiveness and comfort that were being chanted by his ears. All of which, somehow familiar, somehow foreign.

Just like love.

_Love,_ he thought, _was a very funny thing. It was professed with such fervent calls, but abandoned so quickly. There were thousands of ways to be sure of such things-but all of which left him with more securities. Confessions and proof seemed to be more than enough for some people. He wasn't some people. He was... Ph-No. He was Ryoji Mochizuki and he had issues that he wanted to talk about with Sir Love. No matter how much proof was given, he couldn't trust and he couldn't stop fearing. It's pretty amazing how logic nearly never trumps feelings. But then the hypocrites who rely on feelings attempt to rationalize others with logic and their own world explodes. _Sometimes he wondered if he was one of them, too.

As Minako looked at his bandages with varying expressions, she began to re-do them, somehow knowing where all the medical kits and bandages were in the bathroom. She tried to distract him with soothing small talk about the various things she found curious in the house, like the very large spider that she had a poker-face showdown with in the basement and the Hello Kitty rice cooker she found downstairs. Some of which actually worked at diverting his attention from his mental dictionary as he looked up synonyms and explanations for the four letter word, 'love'.

"Okay, bud! All finished!" she grinned as she backed up, placing one hand on her hip and the other under her chin studying him thoughtfully, as if he were a piece of art. He opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him before he could even start. "Wait two seconds!" she called as she ran to the washroom.

Ryoji hadn't the slightest idea what she had up her sleeves, but he wasn't sure he was going to enjoy it. She came out of the washroom wearing a vibrant pink lipstick. She winked as she stood in the doorway between their connecting bathroom, holding the stick of make up in the air, waving it around.

"You're a little colourless." she murmured before crawling on top of him and planting kisses all over him. Literally. When she was finished, he was covered in the pink lip stick from head to toe staring up at her in surprise. "Feel better, Ryoji-kins?" she laughed.

He blushed despite the frown developing on his face, "You're treating me like a child... and an inanimate object. What are you trying to do?" She gave a soft smile. "Child... Not really. But I guess at times, I have that habit. It was my dream to be a kindergarten teacher." Guilt stabbed at him. Another thing he had stolen away from her. He focused on nothing particular in order to avoid saying anything. "Just kidding. That was a lie. I don't really like working with children so young. They're only fun when they're not you're own." She laughed. He still didn't relax. Even if she didn't want to be a kindergarten teacher, she still had others goals-other dreams.

Minako's brows furrowed at something. "Can we have children? I mean. We're not really alive. But can we have them?" Ryoji sucked in a breath again, a knot tightening in his stomach. He could feel the blood flowing his ears as she stared intently at him. "I'd be happy to!" he blurted out. _This_ was very uncharacteristic of him. What had growing up done to his charm? Where was his debonair attitude and flirtatiousness? If this was before Nyx's summoning, he would of said something like, 'Anything for you, my dearest.' Now he was stuck blurting everything out, paragraphs at a time. But maybe. This was who he was now. Maybe she liked his changes. Maybe she liked him more than he thought.

"Good. Now that you're ready to let me bear your children, I can sleep easy." She patted the bed and pulled the covers over him. "Good ni-" Ryoji pulled her down by the wrist to sit in his lap as he pressed his lips to hers. "You missed a spot." he grinned, blue eyes bright and twinkling with mischief. He saw her face flush with embarrassment. _Maybe he still had his game on?_ Slowly the red faded from her face and she began to laugh, pointing a finger to him and holding her stomach. "Maybe you should wash that off before you go to bed!" She chimed before slipping out the door.

Ryoji furrowed his brows in confusion. Then he saw what he looked like in the mirror, pink lipstick covering his mouth.

So maybe he didn't have his game on completely. It was a start, right?

* * *

><p>Re-edited this. Sorry for all the typos. 2807/11/ I didn't have the intention of making her tsundere-ish. Her character might change a little next chapter, as I'm just trying to figure things out. x-x Sorrrryyy.


	2. There is a Beautiful Perspective

There is a Beautiful Perspective I Cannot See

Minako stared at Ryoji, studying him with a careful kind of curiosity, come time for breakfast. It isn't that they lack conversational topics-(because, _how the hell_ is that possible when she has so many questions on her mind?) it's simply the case that she's content to stare the boy-correction. Man. Ryoji's... different now, not just physically, either. Minako frowned, lips curling downward in disdain. Her insecurity grew inside her, gnawing at her insides with cries of rage, bitter at the lack of attention previous to this. Apparently she wasn't allowed to try and get over her childishness, anymore. Instead of complying with the voices inside of her she bit down on her food, chewing delicately with an ushered patience. Despite the slow nature of her actions she had managed to bite the inside of her mouth, teeth clamping down to break skin, releasing a small stream of blood. Minako yelped in shock and clamped a pair of hands to her now-bleeding mouth.

The boy's head snapped up in surprise, rushing to her side with a deep worry that was obviously not just from the sudden scream she let out. Even in her shocked state, he could tell something was on her mind.

"Minako? Are you okay? What happened?" she only winced in response; opening her mouth gave her quite the unpleasant sting. Ryoji's brows knitted together in confusion, then he gave a humored sigh at this edginess. He was just making things worse... He had tried to ease her mind, but he seemed to be worrying her all the more with his self-consciousness.

He gave her a soft smile, before rubbing her head, chuckling at the pouted look she granted him, "Let me see," he whispered, prying her small hands away from her in an attempt to inspect the wound. She opened her mouth grudgingly, averting her eyes sheepishly at her clumsiness, cheeks reddening as he inspected the cave of her mouth.

He frowned a bit and stretched out her cheeks irritably, "Does that hurt?" she winced, "Of course it does!" she exclaimed, trying to move away. Ryoji tsked and muttered something about her making things harder for him before he stood up, placed his hands on his hips and walked away, returning with some rubbing alcohol and a q-tip in hand.

_He's changed_, she thought. The realization made her happy and a little mournful all at once. If he were the old Ryoji he would of treated her more delicately then he did at this moment, if he were the old Ryoji he'd beat himself up about everything-try to punish himself for his wrong doings... Now, Ryoji seemed confident-almost like the type of person to say whatever is on their mind.

Gazing into the cavern of her mouth, lips slightly parted as he tried to reach the spot without stretching her further he murmured, "What's on your mind?" Minako was silent for a few seconds, but he waited as she gathered her words together and backed away to let her speak.

She took a deep breath before she spoke, almost hesitant, "I just... I feel guilty-I don't know when it was... but I just. _I knew you_. I wanted you and I knew I needed you and there's a guilt that comes up with that, Ryoji. There's a lot of guilt." She sighed and mussed her hair up, irritated.

"I don't feel like my decision was necessarily wrong... but more so that it was at the wrong time and that makes it wrong." He chuckled and lifted a hand to smooth over her hair, smiling, "You mean you feel like you deceived Akihiko, right?"

Minako was silent for a moment, eyes dark, "I don't really remember all that much about him, Ryoji, who he was, really... but from what you told me and what I remember I feel like I cheated." Minako sighed and ruffled over her hair again before snapping, "Ryoji-as much as people tell me that I'm good at solving problems and I'm caring I suck at voicing how I really feel and do what's expected instead-but it isn't an expectation when I say this, when I say that I love you."

Ryoji blinked. He knew she loved him, but she had never stated it directly-and this was probably as direct as it would get at this point, with her not even attempting to meet his eyes.

"I'm a lot more selfish than you know, Ryoji... I just hope I don't drive you away with it," she whispered, swallowing air.

Ryoji's heart sped up. There was no one who could get in the way-but he suddenly had the desire to wrap her in an embrace and carry her off to some forbidden land with only the two of them. Ryoji decided to share his own confession instead-hey, he was trying to be less selfish, too, you know, "Yesterday... I'm sorry. It seems silly, doesn't it? To feel so guilty about just walking in on you-not that I didn't enjoy it," she laughed, "It's just... Everything came rushing back. I could never do anything for you and it was more frustrating than you can imagine, Minako. I just... I remembered all the mistakes and failures when it came to dealing with or protecting you."

She scoffed, blush fading, "We're all human, Ryoji, we're not perfectly made or hand-crafted down to the exact detail. We're built up and chipped away... painted and peeled, but there's always a part of the original piece that exists. Take your time." He flinched slightly at the word 'human', "I'm not-"

Minako rolled her eyes irritably, "Shut up. You are. You're more honest and less stupid than before... but like I said-take your time." He gave a soft smile before pulling the girl to him, grinning into the crook of her neck, "I love you," he whispered, "so much."

* * *

><p>So... just a quick little chapter in. I've honestly been busy with school work and haven't been able to really sit down and write. I don't know who thought it'd be a great idea to give us a ton of homework everyday when we have track, PATs and finals at the end of the year... and to be honest, although I'm giving away my age here, I have highschool in grade 10 next year which I'm super excited for. I'll have so much more freedom and I won't be as suffocated as I am now.<p>

So I guess this is a breather chapter. Follow me on fictionpress if you want more original one shots or if you want to submit requests and I'll do 'em if I have enough time. I also have a story started on there... which I'm really sorry for, but I just needed to get the ideas down.

I'm really sorry that I started stories and haven't been able to keep up with them. Really. I hope you guys forgive me.


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